It’s safe to say the Indian markets are seeing an IPO frenzy of sorts. There has been a sharp acceleration in total listings over the last five years, from 2020 to 2025. And what’s interesting is that it has been driven largely by smaller companies tapping into the public markets.
How listings have grown
Data from the BSE website shows that the 2020s saw a big listing revival on both the mainboard and SME segments, with India surging to the top ranks globally by IPO volume in 2023-24. On the mainboard, the number jumped from 14 IPOs in 2020, to 104 listings in 2025.
| Year | Total |
| 2020 | 14 |
| 2021 | 64 |
| 2022 | 38 |
| 2023 | 59 |
| 2024 | 90 |
| 2025 | 104 |
| 2026 (till publishing date, March 3) | 8 |
Source: BSE India
Mainboard listings are one part of the IPO boom — but the bulk of the numeric growth in listings has been driven by a surge in SME/smaller issuer listings, along with a notable pick-up in mainboard volume in 2021–24. These smaller, more frequent SME listings helped push the overall counts higher.
| Year | BSE SME Platform |
| 2020 | 17 |
| 2021 | 27 |
| 2022 | 52 |
| 2023 | 61 |
| 2024 | 68 |
| 2025 | 151 |
| 2026 (till publishing date, March 3) | 20 |
Source: BSE India
Why more companies are choosing the IPO route
Several forces explain why more companies are choosing the IPO route.
Domestic liquidity: Post-pandemic, there has been an increase in retail investor participation, driven by the opening of more demat accounts, easier online access, SIP inflows, and more, giving companies a larger buyer base for new issues. This makes IPO launches more attractive for promoters. (See EY/industry commentary on volumes and retail interest in 2023–24.)
Evolution of regulatory frameworks: Clearer disclosure norms, faster approval cycles, and a dedicated SME framework have reduced both cost and uncertainty for issuers. The NSE Emerge, and BSE SME platforms along with SEBI’s refined ICDR/ICDR (issue) rules made it operationally simpler for smaller firms to list. The SME route reduces some listing thresholds and formalities compared to mainboard migration, encouraging more SMEs to list.
Easier access and lower costs: Digital distribution, better broker platforms, and improvement to UPI/ASBA (Application Supported by Blocked Amount, the application money in a bank account that is temporarily blocked for IPOs) have simplified subscription and distribution logistics, making IPO issuance and retail participation easier than a decade ago.
Better market valuations and listing gains: Valuation benchmarks in public markets often exceed the private-market, especially during bull phases, encouraging promoters to monetise equity earlier than in the past. Periodic strong listing performance — especially for smaller/high-growth names — have encouraged others to test the market.
Breaking down the numbers
While the number of IPOs has surged in the last decade and a half, it hasn’t been smooth sailing for all companies that have listed. Some companies have been optimistic at listing, only to face a slump later. Reports indicate post-listing underperformance, with nearly 37% of the SME IPOs in 2025 closing below their issue price on the first day of trading, compared with only about 9% in 2024.
Another point to note is counts (number of shares issued to the public) versus proceeds (the actual amount raised per issue). The surge in IPOs and counts doesn’t necessarily lead to a similar surge in actual capital formation. Based on EY’s India and Global IPO Trends report 2024, average issue sizes have increased in recent years, particularly in FY2023-24 and FY2024-25, driven by large consumer, manufacturing, infrastructure and PSU-linked offerings. However, a small number of large IPOs often account for a disproportionately high share of total proceeds in any given year. And, while SME IPOs have accounted for over half the total IPO counts in recent years, they typically raise between ₹10–50 crore per issue, keeping their aggregate contribution to IPO proceeds modest. So while there has been an “IPO boom” in the last five years with wide participation by companies, the capital raised has been concentrated among the bigger players.
More steam ahead?
While one can’t predict a further surge or slowdown in IPO activity, it can be inferred that the phase we are seeing coincides with the maturation of the BSE SME platform, which dramatically lowered the entry barriers for early-stage and mid-sized enterprises. As a result, while large, headline-grabbing mainboard IPOs dominated the amount of capital raised, the numerical surge in listings came from SMEs, many of whom would historically have remained private or relied on informal financing.
Sources
EY Global IPO Trends 2024
NISM: Lacunae in the SME IPO Markets
Resilient India IPO market nets $4.6 billion in first half of 2025: EY Global Trends
CRISIL: Assessment of the Depository System, Database Management and Payments Banks in India